Glossary of drafting terms
Amendment (denoted AA or SA): A proposal which adds, deletes or substitutes
language in an introduced bill. Commonly refers to a "simple amendment" which
references lines in the affected bill. An example of an amendment folder may
look like this: AA1-AB1 (Assembly Amendment 1 to Assembly Bill 1)
Budget Reform Bill: Commonly referred to as the "Budget Adjustment
Bill", this document is composed similar to the Biennial Budget but is typically
smaller. It may contain several hundred drafts.
Engrossed: An engrossed bill is an updated version of a bill that incorporates
all of the amendments that have been approved. It is similar to an enrolled
bill, but is still formatted as a regular bill. A bill is typically engrossed
before it is sent to the second house for consideration.
Enrolled: An enrolled bill has passed both houses of the legislature
and incorporates all final amendments to the bill. It is formatted as an act.
The enrolled copy of a bill is sent to the governor for approval.
Drafter's note: A note that the drafting attorney has written to explain
or comment upon a bill draft. It is denoted as "dn" at the end of each file
name.
Fiscal Estimate: An estimate of the long and short-range effects of
a piece of legislation which decreases or increases state revenues or expenditures.
Fiscal estimates are required for certain bills under
Joint Rule 41.
LRB number: This is the number that appears in the upper right hand
corner of the bill. This number is used to identify all draft legislation
before it is introduced.
Proposal/Bill (denoted AB or SB): Legislation that is introduced in
either house of the state legislature. It is assigned a number in the order
that it was introduced, and identifies the house it was introduced in: A for assembly,
S for senate.
Request Sheet: The document on which drafting instructions are officially
recorded. It contains the identity of the requester, the date of the request,
and the name of the drafting attorney.
Substitute Amendment (denoted ASA or SSA): This type of amendment completely
replaces the original draft of the bill. An example of a substitute amendment
folder may look like this: ASA1-SB1 (Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 to Senate
Bill 1).
See also: Glossary of Legislative
Terms
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